24 games. 24 wins. It was an imperfect year for many, but not for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who are the only team without a flaw in college basketball.
In an unprecedented season played during a pandemic that required flexibility, diligence and relentless focus during last-minute scheduling changes, COVID protocols and unnatural adjustments to how the team spends time together, Gonzaga proved to be the team that handled it best. chaos than the rest.
While the final score may seem like it was just another comfortable victory for the Zags at the WCC, the Lions certainly came to play their first game against Gonzaga this season. Despite a new coach for LMU this season and the challenges of losing several games and significant practice time due to COVID, Lions, like many of their WCC teammates, had one of their best performances of the season in hopes of an unsuccessful offer .
It is true that Gonzaga players understand that they will have the best game and the best shot of each WCC team. That is the reality when you have been the head of the conference for the past 20 years. So even if WCC members don’t earn the nation’s respect, except perhaps BYU and Saint Mary’s, the Zags know that the version of LMU, Santa Clara or Pepperdine that they see is not the same edition as their conference colleagues. summer .
Even so, in all games this season, both inside and outside the conference, Gonzaga made the best shot of all opponents and proved to be the best team. It wasn’t always beautiful, although most of it was truly sublime, if we’re honest. Just look at the fact that 23 of Gonzaga’s 24 wins came in double digits – a truly absurd statistical achievement.
It was not the atmosphere of Senior Citizens Night that they deserved, but the Zags were lucky enough to end their regular season with close family members in the building to share their success.
In his final game within The Kennel, Corey Kispert signed with another excellent performance with 24 points (a truly adequate score in his last home game), 5 rebounds and 2 steals. It was his night, and deservedly so. In true Gonzaga style, he didn’t do it alone like Drew Timme (16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), Jalen Suggs (12 points, 7 assists, 2 steals), Joel Ayayi (13 points, 3 assists) and Anton Watson (11 points) scored double digits to help add another W to the winning column.
With the victory, Gonzaga took care of all the tests presented during the regular season and did not prove to be defeated for more than a year. But this team has only one objective for this season: to win a national championship. There is still work to be done.